In my head, when I am training, out on stage, or just being me walking around the shops, I do not conceive myself looking like that. In my head my body looks nothing like the above, it is as it was when I was eighteen.

I a recent NLP Practitioner course held in Italy with Coach4Life, there were lots of photographs taken, and when I was shown them, I could not believe my eyes. Surely I do not look like that? Surely I do not act like that?

In Turkey I have often been accompanied by perhaps a young lady translator, and after a hard days working together delivering a course, to go for an evening meal. On the way to the restaurant as we walk past a shop window, I catch sight of the two of us, and it becomes a shock, because there I see a young woman walking next to a “95” year old man. Yet in my head as we are walking together I feel as one, the same age.

The Cat on the Mat teaches us to realise that what we take as the truth or reality, is seen in a different way by another person, each and everyone of us have different beliefs, even of the same subject matter. Just look at religions.

With the subject of Perceptual Positions, we learn to see ourselves as others see us, and to many participants or clients I have, it becomes a shock to look at themselves as if through another’s eyes.

To hear ourselves as others hear us is most peculiar, our voices does not sound the same as the sound waves we hear in our ears are not carried by the air around us, but by the bone structure and skin between our voice box and ear drums.

It is not only the sounds we make as we speak that are completely different from our own ears to those of our listeners, but it is what we say, the content, which is often different to what is received and understood by the listeners to what we meant to say, as with the tonality of how we say our words.

It is when we can step outside our own shoes and look back at ourselves and hear ourselves as others see and hear us, that we may find we need to change our ways.

It could be a parent who treats their offspring as a child, but in reality that “child” is an adult in their twenties.

It could be that a parent wants their child to be of a certain character type, to dress in a certain way, to behave in a particular way, yet that child is different to what the parent expects. This problem arises when a young person realises that they like the same sex partners, and dress and act in their parent’s eyes inappropriately.

It could be that the parent disapproves of the boyfriend or girlfriend, but the two potential partners are hopelessly in-love, enough to get married. The parent only sees the boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife with distaste and ruins their child’s life as well as their own.

It could be that two partners see the world in a different way to each other, leading to arguments, disagreements and fights.

It is when we see ourselves from another’s perspective or point of view, that we can often see how wrong we could have been, that actually we should change our ways.

By stepping outside our shoes, as if looking back upon ourselves, we can often see how much harm we have done, how much distress we have caused to others. Or, perhaps, how much good we have done, yet had not perceived it.

So, looking at the photographs from the recent courses I gave, the images were not of me as I perceived myself, yet, the role plays I create, the tonally and words I use, the way I give information, the games I play, the stories I tell, all combine to take the participants on a journey of learning with fun and laughter, in an easy and quick way.

In todays interview with Ashford Radio Publishing, Phillip Holt talks about Phobiasand Fears that perhaps 25% of the population suffers from. We look at what causes them, a quick look at cures and examples.

The web site nlp-now.co.uk must have inserted tags into it’s web site with ” NLPNOW “, plus hidden code within it’s web site so that search engines will rank nlp-now.co.uk above www.nlpnow.com and or www.nlpnow.net, both domain names owned by Phillip Holt for over ten years.

Traveling to different parts of the world, giving training, talks, speeches and presentations, has become part of my life, and I love my work.

Last week I was in Shanghai, China, then back to London for two days, now I am in Antalya in Southern Turkey for more courses.

Researching and updating my knowledge bank all the time, it is good sometimes to return to some of my favourite courses, one being hypnosis for the medical professionals, and here in Antalya we are due to work with dentists and doctors, to teach them how they can use relaxation techniques for themselves and their patients. Doktorlara Hipnoz Kursu Click to visit., organised by BİZ Eğitim Danışmanlık ve İnsan Kaynaklarin Antalya.

Other courses are being arranged for the local community such as PhotoReading, (contact BIZ 0242 229 75 51 or 0533 603 93 27), short courses for hotel management, and one day courses for school children on memory, reading and learning skills. We are also scheduled to give talks to universities in the area.

I love my work, meeting new people and old, returning to previous venues to meet previous participants, when without fail, they remember what we learnt together.

If you have training requirements from a worldwide respected trainer, contact Phillip Holt holt@nlpnow.net.

Phobias are irrational fears that have got out of hand, and in most cases are learned.

There are only two fears that the human is naturally fearful of, the fear of load noises and falling, everything else is learned.

The brain, may be given a situation that it has experienced before, maybe a sound, a vision, a feeling, and it then it searches in its’ memory bank for previous experiences to make an understanding of what is happening. We call this a “transderivational search”.

If you like, a transderivational search is something like this. All that you have learned during your life is placed in a filing cabinet, be learnings or experiences, visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory or gustatory, (V,A,K,O or G) you have a filing cabinet in your brain, it is your memory.

Now if you experience something, the information you are experiencing, say a photograph of me, the eyes pass this image from the eyes to your visual cortex at the back of the brain.

At this stage you have no conscious knowledge of what is being seen, the processing is at a subconscious level. The visual cortex says “what is this I see, I do not know what it is”, so it goes on a transderivational search, looking into the memory banks the filing cabinet, looking for a match, the new image is has just received and one that it has stored.

Perhaps finds a visual memory of say an elephant, does it match? No. Perhaps a gorilla, does it match? No. It goes on searching until it finds a near match, and then says, “It is this”. The brain makes a generalisation. This generalised match is most likely is a near fit, not an exact to that you are experiencing, after all nothing is the same twice.

Now, when a person goes into a situation, the brain does a transderivational search, finds the nearest match in the memory banks, and says this happened last time, this is what I experienced before, therefore the same outcome will happen again.

That last subconscious outcome, what happen before will happen again we can agree is not true, as nothing needs to happen the same way twice.

So a person stands on a tall building, the brain takes in all the stimulus, all the information from what is happening, does the transderivational search, and says, “I was not happy last time, therefore I will not be happy this time”.

If the last situation or activity produced the state of not being happy, the brain could now go into what is called a “fight or flight” state, something that is a hangover from our caveman days, and the brain issues the instruction for the body to produce chemicals to either fight the situation or run away from the situation. Such drugs as adrenaline.

The drugs gives us certain feelings as they wash through our body, and some people do not like these feelings, so the brain goes further into the “flight or flight”, and creates a phobia.

The next time we have or do the same experience, the last feeling created by the “fight of flight” will be remember whilst going on the transderivational search, and will build on top of that last bad feeling, that last fear, making it worse.

So a phobia is a learned state, and it is “anchored ” to fire the response once a situation or stimulus is presented. The more the response or state of the phobia is recreated or happens, the more the brain says it will always happen. This is called “conditioning”, as with Pavlov and his dogs.

Why do we get them?

We get phobias and fears to protect us. It is a natural state, some people love the adrenaline rush, some people hate them, it is how our brains are wired.

It is good to have a fear, say if standing on top of a high rise tower block, and there are no safety barriers, it would be stupid to hang off the edge. But, if there is a safety barrier, why have a fear?

If that natural fear gets out of hand, it becomes a phobia.

What effect do they have on us?

A phobia will stop a person doing something, enter into a situation. There will be a panic feeling, fainting, a state of having to get away from the situation. A “flaming phobic” will often have a high pulse rate, go red in the face, hyper ventilate, and sweat.

A phobia is very debilitating, stopping people doing things, perhaps leaving their house, maybe going shopping, and driving a car.

What are the common phobias?

There are so many phobias that I have come across whilst teaching how to remove phobias around the world, the fear of spiders, snakes, flying, open spaces, closed spaces, public speaking, meeting people.

All these can be treated.

Common treatments are such as “Flooding”. This is where a phobic person is gradually introduced to the situation or the item, that they are phobic about. For example, a person was shown on TV with a fear of heights. They were slowly taken up higher and higher structures, until they were desensitised; actually they were not cured as they were only taken up to half the height the fire engines’ reach of its snorkel. Flooding takes a long time, and the client experiences horrid feelings as they learn to control the phobia.

There is “hypnotherapy”, where hypnosis is used, often to go back to recover the initial cause of the phobia, and change the outcome, the memory. Many sessions are required.

I use a method called NLP , which is very quick, re-patterning the brain, the outcome. I can and have taken phobias away in minutes. And, it is long lasting, forever.

There are many ways of dealing with phobias. Which one is correct? Who knows, they all work. I think it is down to the belief system of the client and the ability of the practitioner dealing with the client.

What often upsets me is that a person, who treats people, the practitioner, perhaps with flooding or hypnotherapy, will often dismiss any other forms of treatment as being hogwash, not any good. This is stupid.

I say, use whatever works, and if it does work, good.

But I still say, my system is the best, as I use whatever works.

Click here to read about some of the clients I have worked with, and references. Should you wish to see me, we will have one session only, for as long as it takes, and I will come to you, as long as you cover my travel.

My work takes me to many countries, giving training course, teaching participants how to gain control in their lives, and should they wish how to help other people too to gain control, I give lectures, talks to business people, educationists, students, clubs and the general public. Much of my work now is in this field.

I also continue on a now smaller scale to see clients on a private basis, what is known as 1-2-1. It gives me immense satisfaction to work with these people, who may have suffered for many years over a fear or phobia.

Oh how I would love to work with the BBC presenters on a nightly program called The One Show, when shear panic was evident when spiders were shown each night for a week. The presenters Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles could be seen retreating behind their seats as spiders were produced to for them to observe. In a later program it was shown that this same fear or phobia was just as evident for frogs, and for Christine, moths.

Why should people suffer so much, when in one session this irrational fear can be overcome, removed, and if they should so wish, to handle these wonderful creatures?

I gives me great joy to be approached sometimes by people who asks for my help, to work with them for perhaps just a few minutes, and they walk away with the problem gone, they can stand on the top floor of a tall building, walk onto an aircraft, stroke a dog, walk out of their house that they have not left for many years. OK, I usually sent about two hours with a client for that one session.

I also does not matter that I have usually have no further contact with the clients. Why should I? Do they want me hanging on to them asking them “are you OK?” They need to get on with their life.

Often the clients report “that it is as if I never had the problem“. Great, why should what had been before does not interfere with what happens now.

I remember one lady in Istanbul who had a fear of heights, one quick session, and we went up to the restaurant on top floor of the hotel overlooking the Bosphorus, the end wall being totally being glass. She stood there, nose on the glass, and said she was fine, but perhaps it was not high enough.

A business man who prior to seeing me could not drive on a motorway, or even drive over a bridge, and said that if it worked he would make me a millionaire. I know he now drives himself all over the country, yet I have never heard from him.

An actress who had lost confidence with herself and her acting, so much so that she was going to be written out of the TV soap opera, yet she is still there many years later. I have had no further contact with her, and so it should be that way.

A senior police office that had not been able progress through interviews that would enable him to reach the next level in his career. He needed something special for him that was missing. He has since gone even further in his career, as I watch news about him.

All I have seen just once, and have had no further contact., and I believe this is what it should be if they so wish, as they have a new life.

Do I want to hold a spider or a frog? No, not really. But, if I needed to I can without fear.

A fear or a phobia is learned, and if something can be learned so it can be unlearned by something else stronger.

This morning I awoke very early again with the first call of the day for prayers from a nearby mosque, and went onto the internet and received the following email from Jean-Daniel Antenau, jeandanielantenau@yahoo.fr, about language and reading.

With nothing better to do, I have posted my reply here, so that it may help others or promote a debate on the subject.

Email from Jean-Daniel Antenau, Quote :-

Hi there,I just came to get some information about NLP. I’m french and went on some site by Phillip Holt, a friend of yours.This man pretends reading dictionaries at the speed of 30,000 words/min in order to understand the general meaning of any book in foreign language ! Interesting isn’t it ? I was interested.So I visited his place on internet and the French translation was… at best funny, at worst not understandable !Then I visited your page : it was the same pathetic story !Hey ! Ho ! What is this all about ? Just making fun of everything ? Aren’t there more serious businesses to do of your lives in these times ?Jean-Daniel Antenau

Unquote

My Reply :-

Dear Jean-Daniel,

Thank you for your input.

I had used a Google tool which translates a web page for you. (see web pages in question, www.nlpnow.net).

As I have written, and freely admit, I do not speak any other language other than English. I make no excuse, I have a problem with languages. I believe it is due to the learning of language/s before the age of twelve, the development of the brain during this time, that is the Broca’s area, the Wernicke’s area, and other language-processing areas.

There is also the motivation, the desire to learn other languages. Again, I freely admit, I do not have the motivation to learn another language, and that is no disrespect to your language French, or your culture.

You can say some people are good a running, so good that they enter and win medals at the Olympics, others have two left feet, and never run, even for a bus.

For me to become an Olympic champion in all the languages of the countries I teach in and visit, I would have to spend a lot of time and practice. Perhaps I am not motivated or willing to do so.

I have difficulties, so I prefer to spend my time studying the human, the brain, learning skills, teaching skills, and how I can best deliver and share these skills to as many people as I can, all over the world.

As I said, I have a problem, I do not speak the languages, French, Italian, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese etc, so I use translators(click to see some of my translators), whom I can trust, or think I can. It is only from positive feedback from people like yourself, that I know if the translation work. In the case of the web pages you mention, your email is the first in five years I have had mentioning the translation problem you have highlighted. Thank you, I appreciate your feedback.

Yes there are many people who teach the same skills who speak the native languages of French, Italian, Turkish, Arabic and Chinese etc, many who have copied my work, or followed the same route as I have to learn directly from the originators themselves, like Tony Buzan, Paul Scheele, Paul McKenna, Richard Bandler, John Grinder, Ormond McGill, Gianni Golfera, and more, and with their blessing or permission, teach these skills.

Yes my work involves laughter, fun, and does I hope my web site http://blog.ohpoopoo.com/, that is in my experience the best way of learning, with emotion, laughter, happiness.

At least you laughed. “Hey ! Ho !”

Why not go and find a French speaking teacher of PhotoReading, and try the system? Thousands of people all over the world have, and have proved it to themselves that PhotoReading a book, a dictionary helps in their understanding.

I have demonstrated this technique often in courses I have given, PhotoReading a book in a language I do not speak, and giving specific answers to questions asked of me. Can you do it? Do you know how to do it? Have you even tried?

I doubt it. I have spent many years practising and doing.

110 years ago, man could not fly by mechanical means, then two Americans, or a Brazilian, or a British person, whichever history books you have read, put together some twine, wood, fabric, placed an engine in it, and flew some 30 yards/meters.

Then man could fly.

Since that time, new developments have been developed, new materials have been introduced, so much so that the Airbus 380 has been created, allowing people to go from one side other the world to the other in one hop.

It is the same in reading, perhaps you were taught at a tender age of three I expect, how to read, word by word, and that is it, that is how far you have got. You are still flying the Wright brothersaircraft The Flyer, perhaps you should upgrade to the A380, learn from a Certified PhotoReading Trainer like myself, who have helped open minded people to get more out of their life, to learn and stop critising others and their beliefs and abilities.

The Wright Brothers first aircraft, The Flyer

Being able to absorb information at such high speed, means people do have more time to spend on the more serious side of modern living.

But like me and languages, if you are not willing to try it, you will never know or learn.

Again thank you for your input, I really do appreciate comments and feedback, good, bad, constructive or whatever.